Design Analysis

A Further Range1936I found a dimpled spider, fat and white,

On a white heal-all, holding up a moth

Like a white piece of rigid satin cloth --

Assorted characters of death and blight

Mixed ready to begin the morning right,

Like the ingredients of a witches' broth --

A snow-drop spider, a flower like a froth,

And dead wings carried like a paper kite.What had that flower to do with being white,

The wayside blue and innocent heal-all?

What brought the kindred spider to that height,

Then steered the white moth thither in the night?

What but design of darkness to appall?--

If design govern in a thing so small.

.: :.

Here is a quate from a chapter I just read called "Governeing Design: the Managemnt of Social Systems and Ecosystems Management" by Frances Westley
"The preceding lines were penned by the poet Robert Frost, surely the greatest spokesman in the artistic world for the strange and haunting similarities between the processes of nature and the symbolic constructions of man. these lines were inspired by the discovery by the poet, in an early morning walk, of a white spider poised on a white albino flower, holding up the wings of a dead white moth - elements in nature of death and life, camoflage and discovery. For Frost the whiteness also symbolized good against evil, light against dark. And so, in a typical Frostian twist, he sees "design," an ordr that joins man and nature, defying the forces of disorder and darkness and then almost self-mockingly questions his own perception: Does design operate in a thing so small?"
Thanks for the other posts, I looked at them to try to figure out why the chapter started with this quote. I still don't understand the lign "what but design of darkness to appall?" means? any ideas?

| Posted on 2010-02-08 | by a guest

.: :.

i dont think that he is really talking about how we dont apreciate the small things in life but what i think he is talking about is more of destiny.in the third stanza and frist and second lines he says "what brought the kindred spider to that hieght, then steetred the white moth thither in the night?" in reality is there something bigger than us that determines what we do in our lives. who governs who dies and who lives? because somebody had told that lilttle spider to go up that high set his web and draw the moth in.

| Posted on 2010-01-26 | by a guest

.: :.

In part I believe it is saying that if there is so much detail in something so small as a web, imagine the detail in the larger scheme of things

| Posted on 2009-11-12 | by a guest

.: :.

I personally believe that this poem is about how opposing life (or rather how life is filled with opposition.)
Note how they use the color "white," constantly. This color is closely associated with purity, but he uses this color to describe a gruesome, evil scene.

| Posted on 2009-09-10 | by a guest

.: :.

I believe this is a poem about the disaster life is. The spider is feeling imense pain and suffering, as you can tell by the line "mixed ready to begin the morning right". He obviously feels he is hopeless and cannot do anything right the previous mornings.

| Posted on 2009-08-19 | by a guest

.: :.

This poems further shows that there is evil in what seems to be good world (even though the world really is an evil place in my opinion). A heal-all flower was originally thought to possess healing qualities so this symbolizes the good things in the world as well as the innocent white moth and plus white symbolizes purity. And the white color of the spider disguises the evil of it causing it to fool the innocent moth into its demise. This poem brings light to the hidden evils in the world and that if you aren't careful you can be caught into them.
Just a quick thing: God designs everything for a purpose and everything has its own season and time to go. Why does God let bad things happen? Because he wants us to learn from them. One of the moths purposes' is to feed the spider and that's just the order of life.

| Posted on 2009-07-09 | by a guest

.: :.

To me the poem talks about how, as im sure previosuly said in post. that he is refferring to the overall grand "design". God, the creator and how we are as humans and in existance stuck between two bleaque realities.
1. that god is only existing to create pain and take joy in our suffering (the moth flies straigh into a spider who happens to be the same colour of the flower when the flower is NORMALYL blue).
or if this was just a freak occurance.
2. there is no god or creator, rather total chaos and uncontrollable universe where we are all doomed in the end, and there is realy no point in our futile struggle against the inevitable.

| Posted on 2009-06-12 | by a guest

.: :.

Design is a poem that is not about "a perfect design from a perfect creator" but rather draws into question the Nature of the creator itself. "If a watch, then a watchmaker." Frost tries to make us understand that if the Design has flaws, or evils, then the creator must be evil itself. It is in no way an anti-religious poem, but rather a philosophy of a sort of trickle-down effect (not economically) of the morality of a creator to its creation. -High School IB Diploma Candidate of 2010.

| Posted on 2009-05-30 | by a guest

.: :.

i believe that it has to do with more the relation between the plant, the spider, and the moth. i think considering that the plant is called a heal all plant it still couldnt save the moth from the spider. idk and im a jr. in high school

| Posted on 2009-05-05 | by a guest

.: :.

I'm only a sophmore in high school, but i am a pretty good writer. I belive that this poem talks about ow everything is designed by the hand of God so that it can fit into the enviroment it was needed in.The DESIGN name was talking about how it (the spider) fits into the area it lives( you know, near the flower) so it can survive.

| Posted on 2009-04-22 | by a guest

.: :.

No design, just description. The design is his description...

| Posted on 2009-04-20 | by a guest

.: :.

my opinion about the poem is that he is talkin about the smaller things in life and how we dont pay attention to them because we are to busy focusing on the bigger thigs that are in their face.i like it cause it brings to my attention that i really need to wake up and smell the coffee because i could miss a whole lot of blessings be cause i wouldnt look or listen to the little things and i miss everything that i need so i think its just to pay attention to the little things and dont let the pass u yp

| Posted on 2009-04-03 | by a guest

.: :.

to me this poem is trying to say that everything has detail, even something as small, simple, and scary as a spider. we usually don't look at the details and DESIGN of the smaller things in life and we usually focus on the bigger picture. if we just take the time to observe and recognize the smaller things in life, we could find that we are very fasinated with those things.

| Posted on 2009-03-25 | by a guest

.: :.

The overall imagery in this poem suggest that evil may masquerade as innocence.
agree? good? yeah

| Posted on 2009-03-18 | by a guest

.: :.

I AM NO EXPERT ANYLIST OR ANYTHING IM A JUNIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL BUT I FEEL THERE IS DESIGN IN SUCH A SMALL ASPECT OF LIFE EVENTHOUGH FROST MIGHT NOT HAVE REALIZED HE SAID IT. THE SPIDER WAZ ALLREADY THERE BECAUSE OF HIS INSTINCTS. HE SEEN THE ALL WHITE HEAL-ALL OUT OF ITS NATURAL COLOR BECAUSE OF DEATH AND WAITED IN ITS WHITE DESIGN FOR FOOD TO SURVIVE

| Posted on 2009-03-11 | by a guest

.: :.

In response to 2009-02-08:
This poem was written in 1922. So though a possibility, it is highly unlikely Frost was commenting on the Nazi Party and the German swastika.

| Posted on 2009-03-04 | by a guest

.: :.

I believe that a little expalaination of this is needed. Robert Frost was born in the last 1800's and died in the 1960's. During WWII the German swastika was often referred to a spider. When given the knowledge, humanity used it to create ways to conquer those less fortunate who were not able to pull ahead in the arms race, isn't that the same thing that is happening to the moth??.

| Posted on 2009-02-08 | by a guest

.: :.

There is Design in all of life (something Einstein also advocated) which is embedded in both Darkness and Light; this Design -- "the Architecture" -- is ours to discover because it is the revelation of deeper meaning and purpose to life itself.
Darkness has double meaning (entendre) both "evil" and "hidden." It is ours to bring the secrets hidden in darkness, even if evil, into the light of understanding through questions. We must look beyond our small world of superficial illusion into the depths of truth. Only the moth is real and white; the spider is creating an illusion by being disguised as white, and the heal-all (normally blue-violet) is a medicinal herb which has become the foil for entrapment, and ultimately death. There is no escaping the real inner design by assuming a superficial reality.
What's important in the structure of this poem is the ultimate scientific structure: stanza one is observation, stanza two is question; and the deduction and conclusion are the stanzas we must form for ourselves. Brilliant!

| Posted on 2008-11-22 | by a guest

.: :.

the thing about design is that when you first glance at it, it appears to be in the format of a Petrarchan or Italian sonnet, however the thing about Frost is that not everything is as it seems. Everything he did, he did on purpose. The poem never gives an answer, which defeats the "Italian sonnet" theory. Instead, the poem is a huge answer, questioning God, on why we are here and why he was brought to witness the strange occurance of those white creatures. It connects design and ambiguity. We were all put here but it is unclear as to why? Are we given free will, or does God already have a plan for us? Frost used such great word play throughout this whole sonnet, it amazes me.

| Posted on 2008-10-21 | by a guest

.: :.

It's an Italian Sonnet, you people are ridiculous. Get lives.

| Posted on 2008-10-21 | by a guest

.: Design :.

Even though this web site is a bit weird I think I got more feedback on the poem here then I did on any other website. I may be young but I feel that the poem was about death's design and it's intricate detail in even the smallest things. I'm curious if anyone can tell me the significance of Frost using positive words in negative connotations. I want to say thats how he is able to make such a morose poem beautiful but I am still unsure. What do you think?

| Posted on 2008-05-27 | by a guest

.: Design :.

The witches broth is a simile of God's creation. In which the witch places these creatures into the broth, God has placed his creatures into this world that Frost is witnessing.
So, in the end Frost is questioning what darkness or the unknown is out there when such design is found in small things. What purposes do we have in this world if spiders or small creatures have such purpose that can be both beautiful and brutal.
Jeanna

| Posted on 2008-04-21 | by a guest

.: the title :.

I think the title has a way of explaining the poem. it is all a design. thats how nature is...and thats the design that he wrote about.

| Posted on 2008-04-13 | by a guest

.: a few questions :.

This poem made me think: Is accident truely accidental; what deeper irony is meant by the diseased heal-all (blight) being unable to save even itself; and of course, does THE GREAT DESIGNER care about or even have the power to exist in the tiniest aspects of life? Naturally, we, in our egomania, believe ourselves to be the designers, controlling aspects of life again, while thinking that our "assorted characters of death and blight" are too small... until they blow up a building or two.

| Posted on 2008-04-11 | by a guest

.: Structure :.

All interpretations aside, this poem is an italian sonnet. It has 14 lines, the abbaabba ryhme scheme, follows the iambic pentameter, and is clearly divided between the octet and sestet. The site did mistype it, there are only two stanzas, the break being between lines 8 and 9. Also, just because rules are bent, it doesnt mean the poem isnt a sonnet. John Donne disregarded iambic pentameter and rhyme scheme in most of his poems and they are still considered Petrarchan sonnets

| Posted on 2008-03-24 | by a guest

.: design :.

This poem is an Italian sonnet that is broken up into an octave and sestet. The octave is asking a question and the sestet is an answer to the question.

| Posted on 2008-01-29 | by a guest

.: order of universe :.

Frost mediates whether there is any design or natural rule in this world by discribing the coincidence: a white spider holding a white moth on a white flower. Although the white moth thought the white healall was safe for its hiding it was still trapped by the sly white spider hiden there before. He questions the exist of God. "what brought the kindred to that height then steered the white moth thither in the night?" IF the God is there why the x exists? D

| Posted on 2008-01-28 | by a guest

.: poem :.

it might also be a deeper darker meaning. he mentioned darkness and darkness is considered evil. it seems odd that the only whit healall flower when they are usually blue have this white spider that are usually black have killed this white moth? his last line mentions if evil orchestrated not in people or bombs and war but can be seen in things as small as an insect. it would make you think.

| Posted on 2008-01-16 | by a guest

.: a REAL analysis :.

I absolutely love this poem and looking through some of these so called analyzations of the poem I am not very impressed (especially with the April 28th entry hello this is an amazing poem and if your going to bash on the poem so much at least learn to spell) so i will write my own detailed analysis: I agree with a few of these entries that state this IS NOT A SONNET. And I do believe Frost tried to make that vague but also used it to send a message. The message he is conveying is basically

| Posted on 2007-12-13 | by a guest

.: THINK :.

in my opinion people like create their own little universe and everything is sort of non-existent. Everybody just creates their own little world, making it perfect to keep them happy, they ignore the little details, atmosphere, animals, a moth, spider, and flower. Nobody would see that the heal-all was white, the spider was white, the moth was white, it would be negative space. One more non-existant object in reality.

What does it mean?

Going back to what we were saying, humanity ignores the little details, the "rigid satin cloth" gives the heal-all a brittle appearance, it's given less importance then realistically it deserves, or does it deserve it? Does it exist in this poem? Does it exist in this world? But it must be of some importance to be holding up the moth. Everything is being materialized, the heal-all is turned into furniture, it's alive but gives the appearance of one more materialized object to be usd by society's sake, in this the case the moth.

that spider's daily routine is to kill to eat .that's nature ,whatever.

so here's what I figure, moth's the less fortunate, less fortunate what? I don't know, but that's what I figure. Things that are overpowered, the smaller piece.

The spider is humanity, society, the fat, dimpled people of the world.

The heal-all is |us| the people that care, the people that think for themselves and THINK in general. The higher-conscience. We're the non-conforming, we're not part of the herd.



| Posted on 2007-10-09 | by a guest

.: WELL :.

"He is really trying to tell us that there are some things that cannot be escaped because of our design, and that by his poem we can at least now be weary of what we perceive as truth."

"It's actually not a sonnet because, though there are 14 lines, they are divided into two stanzas, (it's typed up wrong in this site, a new stanza actually starts afte rhte word 'kite'.) thus it not possibly being a sonnet."


both of these are COMPLETELY wrong. And not just from a personal standpoint, from what Robert Frost previously stated in interviews.


Do yourselves a favor people, try and do a little professional/scholarly research before you put false information online with such confidence.


| Posted on 2007-05-30 | by a guest

.: WELL :.

"He is really trying to tell us that there are some things that cannot be escaped because of our design, and that by his poem we can at least now be weary of what we perceive as truth."

"It's actually not a sonnet because, though there are 14 lines, they are divided into two stanzas, (it's typed up wrong in this site, a new stanza actually starts afte rhte word 'kite'.) thus it not possibly being a sonnet."


both of these are COMPLETELY wrong. And not just from a personal standpoint, from what Robert Frost previously stated in interviews.


Do yourselves a favor people, try and do a little professional/scholarly research before you put false information online with such confidence.


| Posted on 2007-05-30 | by a guest

.: Design :.

In the poem "Design" by Robert Frost the speaker’s tone changes in only mood. In the beginning eight lines the speaker is telling in a smooth and comfortable tone about the scene of nature. Only the observations that the speaker stumbles upon on a walk in nature are being written about. Then out of no where in the last six lines of the poem the speaker is shocked and stunned by the results seen. The death that is apart of nature in the poem is being used to describe how we as society are blind. Through nature we can relate to situations that we as people come across as being blind until the outcome proves to us that death and being discreet are all around us.

| Posted on 2007-05-19 | by a guest

.: Design :.

In the poem "Design" by Robert Frost the speaker’s tone changes in only mood. In the beginning eight lines the speaker is telling in a smooth and comfortable tone about the scene of nature. Only the observations that the speaker stumbles upon on a walk in nature are being written about. Then out of no where in the last six lines of the poem the speaker is shocked and stunned by the results seen. The death that is apart of nature in the poem is being used to describe how we as society are blind. Through nature we can relate to situations that we as people come across as being blind until the outcome proves to us that death and being discreet are all around us.

| Posted on 2007-05-19 | by a guest

.: God is everywhere :.

When I first read the poem I thought it only meant a spider was balancing the foodchain. But as I looked at it a bit more I thought of the characters: the spider, the moth, and the flower. And I believe that they are the signifcant parts of christianity. the spider is God; balancing life and death. the moth is Satan; challaging God. and the flower is the Followers of the Christian faith; innocent and in the middle of the war. The spider(God) and the moth(Satan) battle it out, and in the end the spider wins; Good triumps over evil.

| Posted on 2007-04-03 | by a guest

.: form :.

I see there is ? of the form---

the poem is a sonnet, it is broke into an octave/sestet fashion; although not love, it does have resolution. There is a tension and release, attempt to work through it. THe all white is a strange coincidence. Strange that the spider and the flower and the moth are all white. Frost uses the sonnet b/c it is the tightest form of poetry. he is quoted that writing poetry w/o form is like "playing tennis w/o a net"... Frost uses the tightest form to make the reader question form. Is there really no design/ no form? Read this poem aloud and you will hear the "ite" sound throughout the poem, so not only is he showing you white, but you are also hearing it. This poem has been beautifully crafted to propose the reader to actively question form itself.

| Posted on 2007-03-07 | by a guest

.: reading too much :.



commenting on frost's message, look at the last two lines. i think he offer's 2 explanations for the strange occurence/coincidence

1. that the design we see is a result of darkness, or rather evil as we call it. satan or some other evil force did it in order to create a "design of darkness [for us to] appall [at]"

2. if it wasn't the result of this evil force, then it means that there is no order in the world for something so minute and small.
note: this is because "what but" implies that the first reason, that of evil, must be the only reason for "design" in such a small thing.

BUT, if there is no order in a small thing such as this, isn't there the possibility that there is no God? God is believed to have control over everything, even such small things. here, Frost is saying that there might not be a God after all.

if you look at my whole argument, and the context of the poem, you would (should, at least) realise that i am connecting a ver simple thing-- that of a spider and a moth and a flower-- to the question of whether God exists.

reading too much into things, eh?

maybe this is frost's message: don't read too much into nature. humans read too much into nature.

ps. it is not a traditional sonnet (ie not a love poem) but it does resolve something. he poses a question (what is this coincidence about? what does it mean? what/who designed it?) and answers it (darkness, forces of evil.)

| Posted on 2006-06-18 | by Approved Guest

.: philosophical WHAT? :.

unfortunately, whoever posted on april 28 did not understand the full meaning of the poem.

it is NOT, at least in my eyes, a decidedly morbid poem, but a mere warning for those of us who are too gullible. The heal-all is unusually white, which presents a peaceful haven for the reader to retreat; however, the spider is also deceptively white, capturing the white moth. the theme of the poem is that there are some things that you simply can't believe to be true (in this case, the spider). Moreover, apply this to real life. we know not whether ANYONE has really told us the truth, according to ANY subject matter. If someone tells you he/she loves you, how do you really know?
or, on a more world-rocking note, does australia exist? (australians: don't answer). How do you REALLY know, unless you've been there. Perhaps Australia is just a white spider which we believe to exist, but has, by DESIGN, lied to us. And we are fooled. by DESIGN.
In conclusion, Frost isn't pointing out that the world is the all-depressing, hopeless abode that we are stuck on for all eternity. He is really trying to tell us that there are some things that cannot be escaped because of our design, and that by his poem we can at least now be weary of what we perceive as truth.

| Posted on 2006-06-07 | by Approved Guest

.: :.

I think this poem sucks. i mean get over the whole melancolyness of life. life is not dictated by some evil force it's dicated by our own actions, since God let's us decide for ourselves. Again Frost needs to take some serious happy medicine and get over the whole whoa is me!

Unlike most sonnets, nothing is resolved here.
The octet introduces our unusual characters.
Instead of resolving the bizarre nature of this natural occurrence, the sestet poses more questions.
The speaker asks “What be design of darkness to appall?” indicating that something evil must be behind the unusual coloring used here.
If nature is God’s design, then God is evil according to the speaker.
In essence, the design of nature (or perhaps God’s will) causes this unusual design in nature.

| Posted on 2006-04-28 | by Approved Guest

.: DETAILED analysis :.

It's actually not a sonnet because, though there are 14 lines, they are divided into two stanzas, (it's typed up wrong in this site, a new stanza actually starts afte rhte word 'kite'.) thus it not possibly being a sonnet. The poem is essentially stating that there is no such thing as freedom, and that instead, a force of evil "designs" fate for everybody, even such miniscule "characters" such as the spider, flower, and moth. The first stanza clearly states that there is a white spider, (which is unusual because spiders are usually black), standing on a white heal all (which is also unusual because heal-all's bear purple-blue flowers), and the spider is holding a dead moth. The second stanza is asking, who could have possibly brought all of these three unusual characters together at once in one situation? Then there is a pun in the 13th line: "What but the design of darkness to appall?" The word appall actually means to make pale but it also means to shock. So Robert Frost is asking what BUT the plan of an evil force could create this shocking situation/bring these two unsually white characters together. The last line is actually really freaky, it's saying that if it fate really plays role in such small situations such as the meeting of a white spider, moth, and flower. Overall, Frost is saying that there is no such thing as freedom, an evil force plans everything out for everybody.

| Posted on 2005-04-02 | by Approved Guest